Japanese Cultural Overview

The Japanese are the people of Japan, an island nation of East Asia.

Geography

The Japanese archipelago is a string of islands in the North Pacific Ocean. It is separated from the coasts of Russia, China, North Korea, and South Korea by the Sea of Japan. Overall, Japan possesses 6,852 islands, the largest of which are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. As a part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” Japan experiences frequent volcanic and seismic activity. Its climate changes dramatically from north to south, ranging from snowy Hokkaido to warm and humid Kyushu.

Climate: Temperate to tropical

Capital: Tokyo

Total Population: 126,168,156 (2018 est.)

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History

Japan is home to the oldest surviving imperial dynasty in the world, but its history is one of shifting politics and technological adaptation. While its islands have been inhabited for tens of thousands of years, the precursors of Japanese civilization likely begin with the Jomon people around 16,000 years ago. These hunter-gatherers gradually merged with incoming waves of settlers from Korea and China, who brought with them knowledge of advanced farming techniques and metallurgy. By about 500 CE, power had concentrated around the Yamato court, a royal line tied to the mythical founding of Japan.

While the emperors of Japan have maintained their role for at least 1,500 years, their actual strength varied considerably. Real influence rested with shoguns and the daimyo, a feudal warrior aristocracy through much of the medieval era. During this period, internal conflicts were interrupted by occasional foreign invasions, such as the failed conquests of Kublai Khan in the 13th century. Regular contact with Europe began in the 16th century, when Portuguese explorers, merchants, and missionaries arrived in its ports.

Around the same time, Japan’s government consolidated once more through the efforts of prominent shoguns and daimyo. This led to the 19th-century Meiji Restoration, an era of modernization and expansion. The nation studied and adopted foreign industrial technologies to build a formidable military, which won a surprising victory over Russia in 1905. Its conquests in pursuit of a stable oil supply, however, soon brought the Empire of Japan into conflict with nations like the United States. Facing an American oil embargo, Japan launched a shock attack on the US navy in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1941. This led to the United States’ entry into World War II, a bitter conflict across the Pacific, and the final atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since World War II, Japan has rebuilt to remain a major economic force.

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Daily Life

Historically, the people of Japan have lived as farmers, fishermen, and craftsmen, among other occupations. While the wealthy elite might train as warriors, scholars, and court officials, most commoners drew their livelihoods from land and sea. Their staple crops included grains like rice, barley, and millet, as well as various vegetables and legumes like soy. These, combined with a wide variety of seafoods and spices, form the basis of Japanese cuisine. Traditional homes, or minka, often used wood, clay, and stone for their exterior with interior paper panels and woven straw floormats. The most well known traditional Japanese outfit is the kimono, an outer robe worn by both men and women. Today, Japan remembers and displays its cultural heritage proudly, but its citizens are now more likely to wear Western-style apparel and live in urban apartments.

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Society

Until recent centuries, the social structures of Japan tended to follow a basic class hierarchy. At society’s pinnacle sat the emperor and his royal family, accompanied by high-ranking advisers like the shoguns. Below the royal court, warlords known as the daimyo controlled their own feudal territories and employed respected warriors called samurai. Among the commoners, farmers and fishermen generally held higher status than merchants and artisans, though they might be much poorer. Within each of these ranks there were many grades of status, determined by a complex system of social etiquette and local community. Respect and honor remain an important aspect of Japanese society, particularly towards elders and influential people.

By the 19th century, Japanese society began to experience major changes. Instead of a loose collection of warrior lords, power concentrated with a centralized military and the emperor. Industrialization changed the lives of countless peasants, who migrated from rural farms to bustling cities in search of opportunity. This general course of events has continued to the present day. During the 20th century, US forces occupied the nation for years after World War II. This included social reforms and a restructuring of the Japanese government. Modern Japan is still a monarchy under Emperor Akihito, but it is primarily governed by an executive cabinet, constitution, and bicameral legislature.

Major Languages: Japanese

Urban Population: 91.6% (2018)

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Economy

The medieval economy of Japan functioned along feudal lines, with a large peasant base supporting a small population of nobles. Rice acted as a common form of currency--the daimyo often measured their wealth and tributes in quantities of the grain. Over time, despite attempts to limit the influence of foreign commerce on society, the economy of the daimyo lost ground to a more currency- and market-oriented system.

The 17th century saw the policy of sakoku, or isolation, though Japan’s harbors were never completely closed. This lasted until 1854, when naval pressure from the United States forced a reversal of that policy. From there, Japan embarked on the Meiji Restoration to modernize its economy. What it lacked, however, was its own supply of oil, a shortage that fueled its military expansionism and later involvement in World War II.

Following that war, Japan returned to global prominence as an exporter of electronics, automobiles, and other goods. The nation is known for its strong work ethic and stable careers, though its economy has been challenged by recessions in recent decades. The issue of energy, especially after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011, is still one of the biggest economic concerns of Japan. It now represents the fourth-largest economy in the world.

Major Industries: Motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, processed foods

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Beliefs

Japan’s religious history is diverse and, like other East Asian countries, a story of multiple faiths coexisting for centuries. Its primary religions are Shinto and Buddhism. Shinto, an indigenous faith, is a loosely structured form of worship based on regional ritual practices. It recognizes many deities and spirits, or kami. While each individual family may observe different kami, certain deities are widely revered. Most important of these is the sun goddess Amaterasu, from whom the imperial line of Japan is believed to be descended. Shinto shrines can be found across Japan, about 100,000 in total.

In addition, Japan is home to a sizable population of Buddhists. The religion came to the islands around 1,500 years ago from Korea and soon found followers. Its underlying philosophies proved influential, particularly Zen Buddhism, which incorporates elements of Taoism. Other schools like Pure Land, Nichiren, and Shingon Buddhism are all popular today. In many cases, Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines share spaces.

Religious Demographics:

• Shintoism: 70.4%

• Buddhism: 69.8%

• Other: 6.9%

• Christianity: 1.5% (2015 est.)

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Arts & Music

Since its prehistory, Japan’s people have produced notable works of art in distinctly Japanese styles. The pottery of the Jomon transitioned over thousands of years into elaborate traditions in literature, painting, textiles, gardening, papercrafts, architecture, etiquette, theater, and music. A Japanese lady-in-waiting composed one of the first novels ever, the Tale of Genji, in the 11th century. Literature and poetry were closely tied to the art of calligraphy, which inspired a long school of painting. This in turn developed into a strong printing industry and the modern phenomena of manga and anime. Modern Japanese artists explore any number of subjects ranging from sculpture and painting to more commercial pop music and animation.

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References

Brown, Delmer, Ed. The Cambridge History of Japan. 4 vols. Cambridge University Press. 1988.

Dunn, Charles. Everyday Life in Traditional Japan. Tuttle Publishing. 2008.

Friday, Karl. Routledge Handbook of Premodern Japanese History. Taylor & Francis. 2007.

Henshall, Kenneth. Springer. A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower. 2012.

Perez, Louis G. The History of Japan. Greenwood Publishing. 1998.

“The World Factbook: Japan.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 17 Oct. 2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html.

Walker, Brett L. A Concise History of Japan. Cambridge University Press. 2015.

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